Surah Al-Hujuraat Verse 4

(Lo! those who call thee from behind the private apartments, most of them have no sense) [49:4]. Ahmadibn 'Ubayd Allah al-Makhladi informed us> Abu Muhammad 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ziyad al-Daqqaq>Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Khuzaymah> Muhammad ibn Yahya al-'Ataki> al-Mu'tamir ibn Sulayman> Dawudal-Tafawi> Abu Muslim al-Bajali> Zayd ibn Arqam who said: “Some people went to see the Prophet, Allahbless him and give him peace, and found him in his private apartment, so they started calling him: 'OMuhammad! O Muhammad!' Allah, exalted is He, then revealed (Lo! those who call thee from behind theprivate apartments, most of them have no sense)”. Muhammad ibn Ishaq and others said: “This verse wasrevealed about some uncouth people from Banu Tamim. A delegation of the Banu Tamim went to see theProphet, Allah bless him and give him peace. They entered the mosque and called the Prophet, Allah blesshim and give him peace, who was in his private apartment: 'O Muhammad, come out to meet us, for ourpraise is nice while our censure is nasty'. Their shouting annoyed the Prophet, Allah bless him and give himpeace, and so he came out to see them. They said: 'O Muhammad, we have come to brag to you'. Allah,exalted is He, revealed about them (Lo! those who call thee from behind the private apartments, most ofthem have no sense). Among these people were al-Aqra' ibn Habis, 'Uyaynah ibn Hisn, al-Zibriqan ibn Badrand Qays ibn 'Asim”. This incident of bragging was related to us by Abu Ishaq Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Muqri'> al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Sadusi> al-Hasan ibn Salih ibn Hani'> al-Fadl ibnMuhammad ibn al-Musayyab> al-Qasim ibn Abi Shaybah> Mu'alla ibn 'Abd al-Rahman> 'Abd al-Hamid ibnJa'far> 'Umar ibn al-Hakam> Jabir ibn 'Abd Allah who said: “A delegation from Banu Tamim came to see theProphet, Allah bless him and give him peace. They called him from outside his doorstep: 'O Muhammad,come out to meet us, for our praise is nice while our censure is nasty'. The Prophet, Allah bless him and givehim peace, heard them and came out, saying: 'Indeed, it is only Allah whose praise is nice and censurenasty'. They said: 'We are people from Banu Tamim; we have brought our poet and our orator to show youour excellence over you in poetry and brag about our merits'. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him andgive him peace, said: 'I was not sent with poetry nor was I commanded to brag. But let us see what youhave!' al-Zibriqan ibn Badr said to one of their youths: 'Stand up and mention your merit and the merit ofyour people'. The youth stood up and said: 'Praise be to Allah Who has made us the best of His createdbeings; He gave us riches with which we do as we please. We are, therefore, of the best among theinhabitants of the earth and of those who have more means, wealth and arms. Whoever denies what wehave said, let him say words better than our words and mention works better than ours'. The Messenger ofAllah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said to Thabit ibn Qays ibn Shimas: 'Stand and respond to him!'Thabit stood up and said: 'Praise be to Allah; I praise Him and seek His assistance; I believe in Him and inHim I fully trust. I bear witness that there is no deity except Allah, alone without any partners, and I bearwitness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger who called the Emigrants amongst his cousins - who areendowed with the most beautiful faces and the greatest intelligences - and they followed him. So praise beto Allah Who made us the helpers and aids of His Messenger and a cause for the triumph of His religion. Wetherefore fight people until they bear witness that there is no deity except Allah. Whoever utters theexpression of faith renders his own person and wealth inviolable as far as we are concerned. But whoeverrejects faith, we kill him and killing him for the sake of Allah, exalted is He, would indeed be easy for us. Isay these words of mine and seek Allah's forgiveness for the believing men and women'. Al-Zibriqan ibnBadr then addressed one of their youths, saying: 'Stand up, O so-and-so, and say some poetry in which youmention your merit and the merit if your people'. A youth stood up and said: We are the nobles, no tribe isour equal The leaders are amongst us and the fourth of all booties is given to us. In time of drought we feedall people From the thin clouds of Autumn when wind-driven clouds fail to show. If we scorn, none canstand up to us Thus upon boasting do we rise. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace,sent for Hassan ibn Thabit and when the emissary reached him, Hassan said: 'What does he want, I waswith him just a while ago?' The emissary said: 'Banu Tamim brought their poet and orator and theMessenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, commanded Thabit ibn Qays to respond to theirorator, and he has sent for you to respond to their poet'. When Hassan arrived, the Messenger of Allah,Allah bless him and give him peace, commanded him to respond to their poet. Hassan said: 'O Messenger ofAllah, ask him to repeat what he composed'. When the poetry was repeated to him, he said: We supportedAllah's Messenger and religion by force In spite of the enemy of the desert and settlements. Do we notembrace death in the turmoil of battle When the resort of death becomes sweet among armies. And westrike the heads of armoured fighters as we belong To a lineage from the root of the mighty Ghassan. If itwere not for diffidence toward Allah we would say, displaying our nobleness to people, at the base of thetwo mountains, is there any who would like to fight. Our living ones are of the best of those who have setfoot on the ground And our dead are the best inhabitants of the graveyards. At this point al-Aqra' ibn Habisstood up and said: 'By Allah, I have come for something other than that which these people have come for.I have composed some poetry, so hear it!' He said: 'Let us hear it'. Al-Aqra' said: To you we have come sothat people recognise our merit When they boast to us upon mentioning noble traits. We are the leaders ofpeople at any company In the land of Hijaz there is nothing like Darim. In every single raid we have a fourthof the booty Whether the raid is in Najd or the land of al-Taha'im. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless himand give him peace, said: 'Stand up, O Hassan, and respond to him'. Hassan stood up and said: Banu Darim,do not boast, for your boasting Turns to your disadvantage upon mentioning noble traits. You lost yourminds when you boasted to us when you are Our chattels, some of you wet nurses and some servants. Thebest glory and high rank you could ever get Is to come next to us upon mentioning those who are nobler. Ifyou have come to spare your lives And wealth and share what is to be shared, Then ascribe not an equal toAllah and embrace Islam And do not boast to the Prophet about Darim. Otherwise, by the Lord of theHouse, our hands will strike Your necks with sharp swords. Al-Aqra' ibn Habis said: 'Indeed, Muhammad isassisted; I do not know what this matter is. Their orator spoke better than ours and their poet composedbetter poetry than that of our poet'. Al-Aqra' then drew closer to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him andgive him peace, and said: 'I bear witness that that there is no deity except Allah and that you are theMessenger of Allah', upon which the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, said to him: 'Whateverhappened before will not harm you!' The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, gave themgifts and clothed them. Voices were raised and much clamour ensued before the Messenger of Allah, Allahbless him and give him peace. Allah, exalted is He, therefore revealed these verses (Lift not up your voicesabove the voice of the Prophet…) up to His words (… and immense reward)”.